Trivia question: Which would win in a tug-of-war contest between an A340 and an Illyushin Il-96? Both would have full fuel, no payload, and have a dry surface on which to compete. The A340 would carry 2 extra crewmembers to make up for the Il-96 radio operator and navigator. Bonus points if you can figure out which would win in a reverse-thrust tug-of-war contest.

Actually, Arsenal is right.The weight of each plane doesn't matter. They each would have to haul the same amount of weight. The IL96 would have to haul the weight of an IL96 (itself) plus the weight of the A340 that it is dragging along. Same holds true for the A340. You could fully load one plane, and have the other empty, and it would make no difference. Since the weight hauled is identical for each, the only variable that comes into play is engine thrust.

It's not just engine thrust. It's also how well the brakes work and also tyre friction. But most of all, it's strategy!

Assuming the previous posts are right in that the Airbus has less power, here's the scenario:

When the referee signals the start, both aircraft apply full power. The Airbus captain also applies the brakes. The difference in power is not huge, so the brakes "may" be able to hold the airbus so that it only slips a little. The captain then gradually reduces power. The Airbus will be pulled back slowly. The captain then applies full power and releases the brakes.

Assuming that the aircraft are tail to tail, this will send a huge amount of exhaust air (low oxygen, high pollutant and VERY turbulent air) into the area that the IL-96 is sucking from. This may be enough to cause either a flame-out type failure or simply a mechanical failure in the IL-96's engines.

At which point, the Airbus happily trundles over the winning line. All they need to do then is to carefully re-apply the brakes and not do what happened when Boeing tried this challenge:

Unfortunately, the pilot of the Boeing was so overjoyed at his tug of war win that he was too busy hugging the co-pilot, and forgot to apply the brakes. If you look closely, you can see the tug of war rope trailing behind the aircraft...

The IL-86 HAS a radio operator and a navigator.
The IL-96 DOES NOT have any of those.
It has a pilot a co-pilot and the provision fot a 3rd
crew member facing forward behind the central
console (do not know his usefulness).
The version with Rockwell/Collins flight instrumentation
is strictly 2 crew.